Image copyright GMP

A man who killed his friend when he drove a car into a crowd in a "drink-fuelled rage" has been jailed.

Jonathan Snape, 31, ran over Nathan Marshall outside the Salisbury Club in Truro Avenue, Stockport.

Mr Marshall died as Snape "used his car as a weapon" to target people he had been fighting with inside, police said.

Snape was found guilty of murder and attempted murder at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court and jailed for life with a minimum of 24 years on Tuesday.

Snape, of Yew Tree Lane, Manchester, had previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and two counts of assault.

He had spent 27 May in pubs in Brinnington with friends including 30-year-old Mr Marshall before becoming involved in a heated confrontation with another man at the club, police said.

Snape punched him in the face and knocked one of the man's friends out when she tried to intervene before being asked to leave.

Outside the club, he climbed behind the wheel of a black Audi A4, joined by Mr Marshall and another friend as passengers.

Snape drove the car towards the crowd, striking one man who hit the windscreen and was thrown into the air, and hitting his friend, police said.

Witnesses then noticed that Mr Marshall was underneath the car and Snape drove off.

The Audi was found crashed into the central reservation on the M60 the following day and Snape handed himself in to police.

Det Insp Andy Butterworth said Snape had been "blinded by unexplainable rage" and "tried to cause as much damage as he possibly could" using the car "as a weapon".

"Although he may not have intentionally targeted Nathan, he clearly didn't give a second thought about the potential consequences of his actions," he added.